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COMMUNIQUE FROM THE CASPIAN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME

This communiqué has been issued by the Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) of the Caspian Environment Programme (CEP) based in Baku. The Communiqué has been shared with and endorsed by EC/Tacis. The communiqué pertains to an internal Report entitled " Caspian Environment Programme, CRTC MB, Report on the Results of the Caspian Marine Expedition, December 2001". The report covers the preliminary findings of a marine expedition in the Caspian from August 9 though September 25, 2001 with the objective of determining the distribution and abundance of major fish stocks of the Caspian Sea. The expedition was undertaken in compliance with recommendations of the 45^th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Paris 2001.

The CEP wishes to record that the findings, regardless of their technical merit have not been, as stated in the Preamble to the Report, subjected to a thorough scientific review and edit, and careful verification; nor have they been subjected to review by the CEP partners, including the littoral countries and the international partners. In addition, the preliminary analyses do not take account of data from a survey of contamination of the coastal sediments carried out by CEP in late 2001, which could have a bearing on the Report’s findings, particularly in the southern sector of the Caspian.

Release and distribution of the Report's preliminary findings, including its wide distribution to the international press, by the TACIS recruited consultant was therefore unauthorized and ill considered. Any commentary or opinion expressed by the consultant on the Report’s findings should not be considered either those of CEP or EC/Tacis.

CEP is an intergovernmental programme of the Caspian littoral countries and supported by EC/Tacis, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank with the ultimate objective of safeguarding the Caspian environment.